Out-Law News 3 min. read

Defra publishes plans for Clean Air Zones in major English cities


Plans to reduce pollution in English city centres through the introduction of 'Clean Air Zones' have been published by the UK government.

Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton will be required to adopt the measures by 2020, although other local authorities will be encouraged to introduce Clean Air Zones if they wish to do so.

UK air pollution levels were recently the subject of a legal challenge at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), and the published proposals form part of the government's plans to comply with the limits on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in outdoor air established by the EU's Air Quality Directive.

The government also announced £35 million in new funding for electric vehicle charging points, designed to boost the uptake of ultra-low emission cars and scooters. Local authorities have also been invited to bid for a share of a £3m Air Quality Grant funding package, to help them improve air quality in their local areas.

"We need to tackle air pollution and creating Clean Air Zones will improve the quality of life for people who live and work in our towns and cities, both now and in the future," said Thérèse Coffey, the environment minister. "Real progress has been made, but there is more to do, which is why we have also committed more than £2 billion to greener transport schemes since 2011."

A consultation published by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which closes on 9 December, sets out a framework that local authorities will be able to use when consulting on their own proposals for Clean Air Zones. The central framework will help individual authorities to implement these zones in a consistent way, while giving businesses and individuals a clear understanding of what the zone will deliver and its impacts on and benefits for them, according to Defra.

The highest polluting vehicles such as old buses, taxis, coaches and lorries will be discouraged from entering the designated zones, for example through congestion charging, according to the consultation. However, private cars will not be affected. Local authorities will only be able to set charges at levels designed to reduce pollution, and not in a way that allows them to raise additional revenue beyond recovering the costs of the scheme, according to Defra.

Tougher measures will apply in congested areas in Birmingham and Leeds, which will be required to discourage the most polluted diesel vans from entering designated zones, according to the government. Other measures that these authorities may be required to implement include park and ride schemes, changes to road layouts and providing new infrastructure for alternative fuels, the government said.

Separately, mayor of London Sadiq Khan has begun a second consultation on new air quality measures for London, including a new emissions surcharge which will be payable by drivers of older cars, vans, minibuses and heavy vehicles in addition to the existing congestion charge. Khan has also proposed to introduce the planned Central London Ultra-Low Emission Zone from 2019, one year ahead of the current schedule, following broad support during an initial consultation exercise last summer.

"The government appears to have got the message that a lot more work is needed to procure the outcomes required under the Air Quality Directive following the litigation brought by Client Earth," said environmental law expert Fiona Ross of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com.

"The majority of the measures centre around vehicles and transport, and it is clear that the government considers that this is an area which can contribute to the UK meeting its air quality targets within a shorter timeframe than previously proposed. It is increasingly accepted that there are growing public health issues relating to air quality in many major cities in the UK," she said.

Given that the measures proposed in the consultation are based on EU law, it raised interesting questions in the context of Brexit, Ross said.

"Under the proposals for a Great Repeal Bill, proposed by the government, it is understood that the Air Quality Directive would be enshrined in UK law, and so the air quality targets included in it would remain enforceable in the UK until repealed by the government," she said.

"There is no doubt that the outcome of the Client Earth case on air quality has the potential to create challenges for the government in delivering certain types of infrastructure projects, and it will be interesting to see whether air quality targets are maintained or eroded in the aftermath of Brexit," she said.

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